


Laundry Day

by mimimini



Series: fantasy au (work in progress) [1]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Established Relationship, M/M, donghyuck is a shaman and mark is just there i guess, set in an au i have yet to write whoops
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-10
Updated: 2018-12-10
Packaged: 2019-09-15 17:41:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16937772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mimimini/pseuds/mimimini
Summary: Donghyuck has work to do in another village and Mark doesn't have anything specific to do. The weather is perfect to do the laundry.





	Laundry Day

**Author's Note:**

> This is set in an au whose main story I have been planning for quite a bit, but there’s so much stuff still to be done… and then, writing the fic itself… So, in the meanwhile, I ended up writing this. This drabble is actually set after the main story, where Donghyuck and Mark merrily go around having magical adventures so that Donghyuck can end his training as a shaman and find a place to settle. It’s a completely pointless snippet of their daily life after their story ended, but writing this down kind of motivates me to keep doing the planning for the main fic, so.

“Rise! and! shine!”

Mark woke up with a start.

Ever since they had settled down in that small village, Donghyuck’s energy balance had started settling a bit, and while that didn’t inhibit his manners, it had turned him into an early riser, to Mark’s endless bafflement.

Donghyuck was already dressed in his ceremonial robes.

“I have to go bless a newlywed’s hut two villages over today. I’ll probably get invited to the wedding banquet, and if I do, I’ll be late,” Donghyuck explained as he put on his sandals and grabbed his staff. He didn’t really need one anymore, but he thought it gave him a respectable aura, so he had kept it even after his training was over.

Mark nodded, his brain still slowed down by the last traces of sleep.

 

After Donghyuck left, Mark let himself lie in bed for another bit before getting up and going to the basin to wash his face. Donghyuck had already gotten their drinking water from the well, and had graciously prepared soup and left some kind of seasoned vegetables whose smell Mark wasn’t familiar with to accompany the rice. He didn’t remember Donghyuck doing the seasoning, so it was probably something presented to Donghyuck for his services in the village. Mark had his breakfast quickly, dressed up, and walked outside their hut.

The sun was above the hills on the east already and the village was bustling with activity. Villagers working in the fields had left way earlier, maybe even earlier than Donghyuck had. There were some sparse white clouds in the distance, but it looked like it would have been a sunny day. The breeze was pleasant, if a bit chilly, and the air felt dry.

Mark greeted a group of women passing by their hut, stretched a bit, and went back inside.

He had spent the whole day yesterday working on their small plot, but there wasn’t much to do there now.

 _A perfect day to do the laundry_ , he thought, so he gathered the dirty clothes and linen that had piled up, took out the washbasin, a piece of soap and the washboard, a basket to put the washed clothes after rinsing them, and set them outside the hut. Then, grabbing the bucket outside the door, he went to the well to get the necessary water.

 

As usual, there was some kind of small gathering around the well. The people there all greeted Mark as they saw him approaching, opening up the passage so that he could get to the well comfortably. They had settled in the village for a bit less than six months, but Donghyuck--or Haechan, as he was known as a shaman--was already revered in the community, and as his partner, Mark was treated with subsequent respect. It felt a bit like cheating, to Mark, because he didn’t feel he had done anything to deserve it, but he was finally starting to warm up to the villagers.

He went back and forth between the well and their hut until he had the basin filled with soapy water and the bucket with some other water to rinse the laundry later, and then he started washing the clothes right next to the entrance, seated on a small rock. It wasn’t the most comfortable seating, but he was used to it by now. It felt like a joke thinking that there was a time when he didn’t have anything to do with housekeeping; when Mark had to leave everything behind and started travelling with Donghyuck, it had been quite a shock.

Mark felt himself smile as he energetically scrubbed the clothes on the washboard. A few little kids ran past the hut, holding little sticks and swinging them around in some kind of game. The weather had gotten warmer and the days longer, lately; spring was finally coming to an end, and summer was approaching. It would have been their first summer there. Somewhere someone was cooking, the rich aroma brought by the breeze.

It was very different from the city where Mark grew up, and also different from the island Donghyuck came from, but those villages at the foot of the Great Mountains had something that made Mark feel at ease immediately. Everything felt so peaceful. Donghyuck seemed to like it a lot, as well. Maybe that was a given, since it was the place he was _meant to be_. Anyway, as unexciting and simple as life there was, Mark liked the idea of spending the rest of their days there. The last couple of years had been way too exciting.

 

It was past lunch time when he finished washing and rinsing, but he still had to hang the laundry out to dry. The wind was a little stronger, and the clouds he had spotted in the morning were nowhere to be seen.

He was humming distractedly as he worked when he saw a figure approaching.

“Hyuck?” he called, surprised.

Donghyuck grimaced. He had a heavy-looking sack over the shoulder. His jacket was unlaced, revealing the loose-fitting brown undershirt inside.

“Apricots,” Donghyuck said, as if he knew what question Mark was about to make. “The marriage wasn’t celebrated because the families involved had a fight. I left right after getting there, basically. At least they gave me something.”

With a _oof_ , he carefully set down the sack, leaning the staff against the wall of the hut.

Mark hummed. “Bring them inside. We can eat together, as soon as I finish here.”

Donghyuck nodded, but before picking up the sack again and entering the hut, he ran close to Mark and gave him a peck.

They smiled at each other. Summer was just about to start.


End file.
